The effects of a rational-emotive affective education program for high-risk middle school students

This study investigated the effects of participation in a developmentally appropriate affective education program. The independent variable was the rational-emotive curriculum Thinking, Feeling, Behaving: An Emotional Education Curriculum for Adolescents (Vernon, 1989), and the dependent variables were self-concept measured with the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and end-of-year report card grades. Twenty-three middle school students who were identified as high risk for dropping out prior to completion of high school and also as learning disabled or emotionally disturbed were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 12) and control (n = 11) conditions. Participants in the affective education group met for approximately 45 minutes a week for 15 weeks. Self-concept and grades did not differ between the two groups.     

Rehabilitation and nutrition protocols for optimising return to play from traditional ACL reconstruction in elite rugby union players: A case study

Current nutrition and exercise focus during rehabilitation periods has been on reducing muscle atrophy associated with immobilisation. This case report outlines a best practice anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rehabilitation programme undertaken by two professional rugby athletes, with the addition of an evidence-based supplementation (gelatine and vitamin C) and exercise protocol focused on collagenous tissue. Both players ruptured their left ACL and were repaired with a traditional hamstring graft. Players undertook a structured rehabilitation programme for 34 weeks before being clinically assessed ready to play. Players saw minimal changes in body composition in the early rehabilitation period (P1 – 0.8 kg; P2 – 0.4 kg). Leg lean mass reduced in both legs of Player 1 (Injured – 0.8 kg, Non-injured – 0.6 kg) at 17 weeks, with Player 2 only experiencing a loss of 0.3 kg of lean tissue in the injured leg. Both players returned to baseline body compositions after 24 weeks. Leg strength returned to a maximum at 24 and 15 weeks, respectively, with knee function returning to baseline by 30 weeks. This case report provides evidence that nutrition and rehabilitation programmes targeted at minimising the effects of disuse in both muscle and connective tissue may assist return to play after ACL injury.     

Measuring the ethnic diversity of the museum workforce and the impact and cost of positive-action training,with particular reference to the Diversify scheme

This paper attempts to determine the ethnic profile (sometimes called “cultural diversity”) of the museum sector workforce. It sets the museum sector workforce in the context of the population as a whole and makes some comparisons to the diversity of the wider cultural sector workforce. It looks also at positive action training schemes, targeted at under-represented minority groups, in particular the Museums Association's Diversify scheme, looking at their cost and effectiveness in securing employment. It also describes other positive action schemes such as Arts Council England's Inspire programme and Diversify management-level traineeships and traineeships for deaf and disabled people. It tentatively considers the impact and value for money of positive-action training. It also sets out the legal and policy context for workforce diversification, in particular the implications for data collection of section 37 of the Race Relations Act 1976.

The headline finding is that the proportion of people from minority-ethnic backgrounds in the UK museum sector increased from 2.5% in 1993 to about 7% in 2006–2008. This varies between 1.3% and 10.4% depending on the type of museum and the type of job and compares to an overall minority-ethnic working age population of 12.6% in England in 2008.

There is a significant under-representation of most (but probably not all) minority-ethnic groups in most areas of museum work. The paper concludes by making brief suggestions about how policy makers and researchers might respond.     

Double lock of a potent human therapeutic monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2

Receptor recognition and subsequent membrane fusion are essential for the establishment of successful infection by SARS-CoV-2. Halting these steps can cure COVID-19. Here we have identified and characterized a potent human monoclonal antibody, HB27, that blocks SARS-CoV-2 attachment to its cellular receptor at sub-nM concentrations. Remarkably, HB27 can also prevent SARS-CoV-2 membrane fusion. Consequently, a single dose of HB27 conferred effective protection against SARS-CoV-2 in two established mouse models. Rhesus macaques showed no obvious adverse events when administrated with 10 times the effective dose of HB27. Cryo-EM studies on complex of SARS-CoV-2 trimeric S with HB27 Fab reveal that three Fab fragments work synergistically to occlude SARS-CoV-2 from binding to the ACE2 receptor. Binding of the antibody also restrains any further conformational changes of the receptor binding domain, possibly interfering with progression from the prefusion to the postfusion stage. These results suggest that HB27 is a promising candidate for immuno-therapies against COVID-19.     

The diagnostic and prognostic utility of the dual-task tandem gait test for pediatric concussion

Background:The tandem gait test has gained interest recently for assessment of concussion recovery.The purpose of our study was to determine the prognostic and diagnostic use of the single-and dual-task tandem gait test,alongside other clinical measures,within 10 days of pediatric concussion.Methods:We assessed 126 patients post-concussion(6.3§2.3 days post-injury,mean§SD)at a pediatric sports medicine clinic and compared them to 58 healthy controls(age:15.6§1.3 years;43%female).We also compared the 31 patients with concussion who developed persistent post-concussion symptoms(PPCS)(age=14.9§2.0 years;48%female)to the 81 patients with concussion who did not develop PPCS following the initial assessment(age:14.1§3.0 years;41%female).All subjects completed a test battery,and concussion patients were monitored until they experienced concussion-symptom resolution.The test battery included tandem gait(single-task,dual-task(performing tandem gait while concurrently completing a cognitive test)conditions),modified Balance Error Scoring System(mBESS),and concussion symptom assessment(Health and Behavior Inventory).We defined PPCS as symptom resolution time>28 days post-concussion for the concussion group.Measurement outcomes included tandem gait time(single-and dual-task),dual-task cognitive accuracy,mBESS errors(single/double/tandem stances),and symptom severity.Results:The concussion group completed the single-task(mean difference=9.1 s,95%confidential interval(95%CI):6.1-12.1)and dual-task(mean difference=12.7 s,95%CI:8.7
16.8)tandem gait test more slowly than the control group.Compared to those who recovered within 28 days of concussion,the PPCS group had slower dual-task tandem gait test times(mean difference=7.9 s,95%CI:2.0-13.9),made more tandem-stance mBESS errors(mean difference=1.3 errors,95%CI:0.2-2.3),and reported more severe symptoms(mean difference=26.6 Health and Behavior Inventory rating,95%CI:21.1-32.6).Conclusion:Worse dual-task tandem gait test time and mBESS tandem stance performance predicted PPCS in pediatric patients evaluated within 10 days of concussion.Tandem gait assessments may provide valuable information augmenting common clinical practices for concussion management.     

Overview of Telehealth and Its Application to Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy

Advances in telecommunication technology provide unique opportunities for the provision of medical services to underserved and geographically displaced patients. Health care professionals currently use voice and video systems to communicate with patients and colleagues in a variety of clinical venues. Unfortunately, such systems have limited presence in physical therapy settings. A variety of factors, including lack of familiarity with existing devices and perceived system purchase and operation costs, appear to be limiting its use. Even the terminology is confusing with such terms as telehealth, telemedicine, and telerehabilitation often used interchangeably. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of this technology and to provide a clinical perspective regarding the use of telehealth in cardiopulmonary physical therapy practice.Key Words: technology and health care, physical therapy

“The future has a habit of suddenly and dramatically becoming the present.”Roger A. Babson